DX 29er - Finished

[kram]

Ok, well maybe 700c is more accurate but 29er sounds cooler :lol: . I picked up what I think is a dx frame of unknown year in a bundle of bikes and parts that I picked up a little while ago.I originally planned on building a klunker with nexus 8 wheelset I had. I cold set the rear to accept the 8 but then decided that I was going to use the wheels on something else. Well I still liked the way things were looking so I stuck on the 700c wheels and I think this is the direction I will go. I knocked off the majority of the rust and used a little naval jelly to get more of it off. Then I hit with a couple coats of amber shellac, which is quickly becoming my favorite method on rusty metal.

Here's how it started.


A few more parts on it (sorry for the crappy pics).






I used most of the parts I was planning for the klunker build. The 26" bmx fork was a really close fit for the wheels.


I just need to get the crank in, upholster the seat, and narrow the bars a few inches on each side before final assembly.

 

[patman73]

looks like your bottom headset bearing is installed upside down & not any grease !

 

[LukeTheJoker]

looks like your bottom headset bearing is installed upside down & not any grease !

And he left off the top nuts, crank and chain! Probably just doing a mock up... :wink:

Bike is looking cool Kram! Should fly with that wheel set on it!

Luke.

 

[kram]

Like Luke said its just a mockup. The bearing isn't upside down. The problem is the race on the fork doesn't fit with the schwinn bearing. I have a bunch of extras and shouldn't have a problem finding one that fits when I put it together for the final time.

 

[jonathan creason]

I really dig the way that shellac looks over the patina. Plus shellac is very durable and easily fixed if it does get messed up.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

I like this bike a lot. If it were me, I'd chop 1-1/2 to 2" off the bars to narrow them. But ya, this thing looks great. It's gonna be fast.

 

[kram]

Jonathan- I think that's why I really like the shellac. If you scratch it any way you just pull out a brush and touch it up.

I got the bars narrowed, headset spacer made, and found a bearing that would work today. I ended up taking 2" off of both sides of the bars. I need to upholster the seat and then there isn't much left to do on this one.





Close up of the shellac.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Yup that looks nice m tight now

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

That's some sweet patina!!

 

[Joosh]

Looking great

 

[kram]

Got the seat all done today.

 

[kram]

A few more details...

I had a set of heavily rusted cranks from my '37 schwinn. I degreased them and hit them with a few coats of shellac like the frame. The chainring I pulled off a Frankenstein bike and it says crown Japan on it. Maybe from a bmx or something.

I've done this on most of my builds,used an old spoon for a brake strap. Sorry the pic is so dark.

I had these grips on the bike that I used to have the wheelset on. It was a pair of dingy white schwinn grips with a bunch of layers of shellac on them to turn them brown.

I'll try and get some good pics with my camera soon.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Just gets better and better!

Luke.

 

[oldcruiser26]

Awesome build I did a 26 schwinn cantilever 700c build a couple of weeks ago and I love it I had to put a 700c fork on for tire clearance up front The bmx fork I wanted to use wouldn't accept the wheel I really like the way yours looks with the tubular fork and the shelac patina is amazing nice work all around

 

[B607]

Very nice. I want to try that shellac treatment. Looks good. Gary

 

[kram]

Thanks for the compliments.

oldcruiser26- I looked up your build and it came out really nice. I have had the wheelset on a couple of frames and they are a lot easier to fit on a frame that has rear facing dropouts.

Gary- Shellac is easy to do and if you live somewhere cold you can just do it inside. I used a super cheap foam brush on this one and it worked better than nicer brushes that I have used.

I got the bike all finished and took it for a ride. The 44-18 gearing feels really good and the bikes is super fast and tight. It's probably the nicest riding bike I have. The headset still wasn't feeling right but with some bearing and cup swapping I got it all working great. I took some nice photos and will make a thread in the gallery section in the next couple of days.

 

[Carbon]

That thing looks awesome! Love those big wheels, I bet a 48/16 gear on a good stretch of flat road, that thing would fly!!

 

[hortonbikes]

Wow, I absolutely love this bike. Great work. The spoon idea is a nice touch.

 

[kram]

I posted some better pictures up in the gallery. You can see them here.

 

[irideiam]

Nice work......sweet rider with vintage flair............